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LONGWOOD, Bronx

The Bronx’s Longwood and Hunts Point, heavily residential and, toward the East River, industrial, are remnants of country estates: Longwood Park was an 1870s estate owned by Samuel B. White, and Hunts Point was formerly a collection of country estates owned by the Casanovas, Barrettos, Spoffords, Failes, and other wealthy families, many of whose names now grace street signs.

In the late 19th Century Longwood and the surrounding area was subdivided into residential lots. A group of now-landmarked brownstone buildings was developed by Warren C. Dickerson for landowner George Johnson between 1897 and 1901 consisting of parts of Beck, Kelly and Dawson Streets and Hewitt Place between East 156th Street and Longwood Avenue. Designated a New York City Landmark District, its buildings are marked by their eclectic peaks and roof embellishments.

The region’s odd street layout… streets sort of undulate, twist and turn…was, in part, defined by the now-underground Sacrahong Brook, whose route is now nearly exactly copied by Intervale Avenue.

We’ll begin at the crossroads of Southern Boulevard, Hunts Point Avenue and East 163rd Street, a.k.a. Monsignor Raul Del Valle Square. Del Valle (1926-1998) fled Fidel Castro’s Cuba in 1961, arriving in the Bronx, and rehabilitated and revitalized local parishes St. Anselm and St. Athanasius. he became a beloved local activist, setting up homeless shelters and food stations. Upon learning he had cancer, he wished to see his native land once again; John Cardinal O’Connor interceded with Castro, and the prelate returned to Cuba before returning home, where he died a few months later.

The IRT #6 line has an unusual concrete and brick entrance here.

There’s an unusual building at the NW corner of Southern Blvd. and East 163rd Street that looks like it could have been an auto showroom. Zooming in on the plaque at the top, it shows and eagle and a rising sun. What could this have been?

Theatre Row

Southern Boulevard was a theatre row of sorts in the Longwood area through much of the 20th Century, wih not one…not two…but three palaces all vying for the moviegoers’ dollars…

Loew’s Spooner, 961 Southern, opened independently by the Spooner Stock Company owned by actress Cecil Spooner in 1910 but was soon scooped up by Loew’s. It hung in there until the 1970s. It showed second-run flicks or films ignored by the nearby Boulevard Theater. As you can see it is presently a Duane Reade drugstore.

Boulevard Theatre, 1032 Southern, was designed by the great theatre designer Thomas W. Lamb and opened in 1913 for vaudeville and live acts with films becoming prominent in 1917. Like the Spooner it was opened independently, by the Picker family, and was taken over by Loew.

“When [Jan] Murray was a boy, his mother would take him to burlesque shows and to the 25-cent vaudeville performances at Loew’s Boulevard Theater. After she became ill and could not leave the house, he would memorize the acts and perform them at her bedside.” New York Times via cinematreasures

The Boulevard showed Spanish-language films into the 1980s, and as you can see today it is a furniture store.

The little Art Theatre (550-600 seats) at 1077 Southern was perhaps the most recognizable along the row, since its evocative sculptures (the lady above seems to be in some distress) could easily be glimpsed from the passing IRT elevated, as they are today. It is presently a Pentecostal church, with a tattoo parlor on its left and a nails place on its right.

Flocks of NYC streets are named for the signers of the Declaration of Independence, NYC mayors, Trinity Church vestrymen, classical composers, even astronauts. But printers? Why not?

Aldus Street runs through the former estate of Colonel Robert Hoe, inventor of the rotary press. When the city developed the area and streets were cut through, threee were named Hoe Avenue (which is still there) Guttenberg Street, and Aldus Street, for Italian pressman Aldus Manutius (1449-1515) who established one of Italy’s finest printing presses in Venice in 1493. It is thought he invented the slanted style we call italic type.

Aldus is the name of a former software company that made, you may recall, an early giant in the desktop printing biz, Aldus Pagemaker. It was purchased by Adobe, which updated it through 2001; Adobe has pretty much succeeded it with the more complex DreamWeaver.

Southern Blvd. gains an elevated when the IRT #2 (White Plains Road line) & 5 (Dyre Avenue line) curves off Westchester Avenue at Gladstone Square. The latter enjoys about 5 blocks of sun before the #6 Pelham Bay Line rises from underground and again shrouds it. One of the pillars conceals a now-rare “crescent moon” incandescent luminaire.

Beaux-arts clock, SE corner Westchester Avenue and Southern Blvd.

West Farms Road runs northeast from the junction of the two roads.

West Farms Road is one of those wild card roads that has survived despite the grid-dization of the rest of the area. Sometimes old roads get to keep names that hark back to the original use of the area through which they run. The road travels from here in a zigzag route along the Sheridan Expressway (and originally ran along the Bronx River) north to Boston Road at East Tremont Avenue. It overlays an Indian trail and was known to travelers in the colonial era as the Lower road, the Back Road and later, the Queen’s Road. In 1802 it was called West Farms Turnpike.

The road led to the village of West Farms, so called because it was the westernmost of a larger district called Ten Farms. West Farms was a major (Bronx River) port from the pre-Civil War era to the 1930s.

San Juan Health Center, at West Farms Road and Southern Blvd. has some unusual bas relief art.

Tribute at Southern Blvd. and East 167th Street to local figures Mad Mark and Big Pun. Christopher Lee Rios (1971-2000) was the first Latin rap star to gain mass popularity; his Capital Punishment CD hit Billboard’s top five in 1996, and the posthumous Yeeah Baby went to #3 in 2000.

Simpson Street el station, Westchester Avenue. Most of the stops along the White Plains/Dyre Avenue line (#2 and #5) were rehabbed nicely in the early 2000s, including spruce-ups to the chalet-type stations and new platform lamps that echo back to old-fashioned styles. The elevator (left) is an incongruous contrast, but not every el station in the system has one.

St. Athanasius Church, Tiffany and Fox Streets. Father Louis Gigante, who arrived at the church in 1962, was and is a charismatic figure in this community:

…the young assistant pastor Father Gigante focused first on the local teenagers. he got his South Bronx parish involved in the church’s Summer in the City program, offering kids an alternative to hanging around and getting into trouble. There were sports and social events for boys and girls, presented with that special brio of Father G: “G brought a great deal of love to that area, no doubt about it,” remembers one young man. Moving to take advantage of the fledgling antipoverty programs, Gigante set up the Simpson Street Development Association. Like all other storefront operations popping up in the slums, this served up a potpourri of social services… Jill Jonnes, South Bronx Rising, Fordham U. Press 2002

In an Angels with Dirty Faces scenario in which two friends go vastly different ways, three of Fr. Gigante’s brothers were involved in organized crime. Vincent “The Chin” Gigante (1928-2005), a crime boss in the Genovese Family, feigned mental illness for nearly 30 years to avoid prosecution. He was convicted in 1997 and died in prison.

Simpson Street. Many of the houses in the area are new, replacements for the tenements torched by vandals and arsonists in the late 1970s and 1980s.

PS 39, Longwood Avenue between Kelly and Beck Streets. The Banana Kelly organization, named for the shape of the street, was a grass roots organization originating in 1977:

…thirty residents gathered to stop the demolition of their homes along Kelly Street, a crescent shaped block in the heart of the Longwood/Hunts Point neighborhood of the South Bronx. Without any support or even tools, money or title to the property, they succeeded in rehabilitating the buildings and in creating 21 units of high-quality affordable housing, These original activists formed Banana Kelly Community Improvement Association, Inc. to continue the work that they had started.

Banana Kelly’s achievements to date include raising or leveraging over $100 million of investment in Longwood/Hunts Points; rehabilitating 2,000 units of affordable housing; conducting ongoing management and ownership of 1,000 units of housing in 47 buildings; weatherizing over 8,000 units of housing; providing 1,500 families per year with service referral and housing advocacy; establishing a program of assistance to small businesses; delivering education as well as construction training and building maintenance programs to over 750 youth; developing the first urban dormitory for homeless high school students; and attracting the first new health care clinic in the community in 22 years. [synergos.org]

Beck

A pair of the landmarked Dickerson-designed houses on Beck Street. Of the landmarked houses on Beck, Kelly and Dawson Streets, these are my least favories since they are not quite as well-maintained as on the other two streets.

Kelly

The Dickerson houses are cleverly presented and arranged, alternating between twin-peaked and mansarded roofs.

A visit with Mr. White

Samuel, B. White, the original owner of Longwood Park, the area from which he neighborhood sprung, owned a country house at East 156th and Beck Street, built about 1850 by Charles Denison. The house was built before any of the meandering streets of Longwood were cut through, so it was all askew to the grid and faced it catercorner.

Charles Denison … was a representative from Pennsylvania, a Democrat elected to the Thirty-eighth, Thirty-ninth, and Fortieth Congresses and served from 1863 until his death in 1867. That gave him 17 years to live in the mansion, which he built in 1850. After that, his son-in-law Samuel White moved in. [Lost City]

When your webmaster visited in January 2005 the abandoned mansion was still in apparently in salvageable shape, with some detail remaining around the entrance columns. According to the AIA Guide to New York the old building had had a number of uses, including a stint as the Martinique Club.

Returning in April 2007, I saw that some changes had been made.

Essentially only two sides of the exterior wall of the mansion remained. Is this the end of the Samuel B. White mansion? Appears so. I’ve seen other interiors gutted while exteriors were retained but this looks like the end of the line.

Not so fast!

Friends in the City Inc. and the Lantern Group, both Manhattan-based nonprofit developers of affordable housing, are teaming up to restore the Denison-White residence, turn it into a community center and build 95 apartments — 93 of them categorized as affordable.

The planned $28 million renovation and reuse of the property, which served as a real estate office, social club and Police Athletic League center at various points in its history, has been enough to pique the interest of neighbors and affordable-housing advocates in this blue-collar neighborhood.

But the development, to be called Cedars, is perhaps most notable for its focus on a demographic increasingly known as the “grandfamily”: grandparents (or other older relatives) raising grandchildren. A Forlorn Neighborhood Revitalized, David Scharfenberg, NYTimes, October 8, 2006

So here we are in 2012, with the Cedars development completed, and the front end and sides of the White mansion still in place. The White mansion has been renamed Fox Hall.

The Greek revival-style building, currently called Fox Hall, was originally built in the 1850s and was the Samuel B. White Mansion that stood in the middle of a 70-acre estate called Longwood Park. By 1903, the mansion had been turned into a social club, complete with billiards and bowling. Most recently it was the patrolman Edward P. Lynch Police Athletic League Center before it was left abandoned and fell into disrepair. Through state, city and tax credit funding the building façade has been restored to its 1850s façade to meet all requirements of the Landmarks Preservation Commission. The windows are mahogany, original window openings discovered and restored, the cornice repaired or replicated, the entry portico reconstructed, and the façade is true stucco. A central stair wrapping a free-standing brick wall built of the reclaimed brick reinforces the centrality of this building.Urban Architectural Initiatives

Prospect Family Inn, a homeless shelter at at East 156 and Kelly Streets, was Prospect Hospital, a small 175-bed facility institution that traced its beginnings to 1919. In a controversial move its board of directors abruptly closed it in March 1985, a time of rampant hospital closings around town.

The Inn also home to services attempting to prevent child abuse.

Dawson

A look at a third block of Dickerson-designed houses on Dawson Street. When much of the South Bronx burned between 1977-1984 the house proud residents of Longwood kept their amazing buildings intact.

Anything can happen® when Forgottening; when your webmaster reached Dawson Street and Longwood Avenue I came upon some basketball courts and the back of an apartment building facing Hewitt Place.

There were some…objects attached to one of the blank walls.

I was immediately reminded of Parkchester, which has rather playful terra cotta sculptures high on the sides of the buildings in the complex (one of these days your webmaster intends to do a thorough survey of the Parkchester sculptures, listing and categorizing them all) but these four are much more playful and evocative than the ones at Parkchester, which have a precious quality; these are, to use a word I despise but can’t think of another, sassy.

This installation is Life on Dawson Street, by Bronx artists John Ahearn & Rigoberto Torres, who have two other groups of sculptures in the same area:Homage to the People of the Bronx: Double Dutch at Kelly Street at Intervale Avenue and Kelly Street and We Are A Family at Intervale and Fox Street.

The artwork dates to the 1981-1982 period.

The Romanesque, onion domed United Church on Hewitt Place is impressive indeed when viewed from Macy Place. This was originally a synagogue completed in 1906–despite the onion domes, which are generally found on Russian or Eastern European churches.

The intersection of Prospect Avenue and Avenue St. John presented yet another opportunity to construct a unique “triangle” or “flatiron” building. A block away at St. John and Kelly Street is the Demera/Santiago Garden, named for Eugene “Fat Fred” Demera and Osvaldo Santiago. the two were friends of Al Quinones, the founder of the organization 52 People for Progress, a non-profit park and garden volunteer organization.

The avenue was named for George St. John, a close friend of the Morris family in the 1850s. It’s the only street in he Bronx in which “Avenue” comes first.

St. Mary’s Park in Mott Haven is located in roughly 35 acres between St. Ann’s Avenue, St. Mary’s Street, Jackson Avenue and East 149th Street. It was the locale of Jonas Bronck’s farm; Bronck was the 1600s Swedish settler for whom the borough and the river that runs through it take their name. The land was later held by Gouverneur Morris and Janes and Kirtland Iron Works, which helped create the massive Capitol Dome in Washington, DC. The park was home to The Bronx’ first playground in 1914. It takes its name from a long-demolished church in the area. The park is home to a number of glacial rock outcroppings.

An abandoned NY Central Railroad spur runs in a tunnel underneath the park, running from the main line to the former Port Morris freight station.

Old School

PS 27, St. Ann’s and East 147-148 Sts. facing the park, was created from 1895-18978 by architect C.B. J. Snyder.

The AIA Guide to NYC describes it thus:

“Built 5 stories tall for children with good legs and good lungs. The carved limestone escutcheon over the main entrance is an effulgent work of sculpture.”

51 Responses to LONGWOOD, Bronx

Re: the plaque at the top of the building at Southern Blvd. and E. 163rd St. This is the coat of arms of the Borough of the Bronx. The building apparently was one of three, including the former Spooner Theatre, built around 1912 and called the Community Buildings. That’s all I have been able to uncover so far.

During the 1950’s the 2nd floor of this building was the location of an bowling alley and pool room. It was known as Harry’s pool room to us. I set pins in this place. Does any one know what happened to a place across the street on Southern Blvd., called the Silver Palms.

Another detailed masterwork from beloved webmaster of “Forgotten”! Thank you, Kevin. If I may be so bold, I was researching the area last summer for a Bronx tour and got curious about the infamous “Fort Apache”. Its not difficult to get lots of info thanks to the eponymous film starring Paul Newman. I did visit the site, which sits squarely (or triangularly!) within the historic district, on Simpson St., one block west of Southern Blvd. The old 41st Precinct House was beautifully restored to its former glory in recent years, though now serves a secondary function for NYPD police/detective offices. It can be seen be all, in its infamy, in the film. Thanks again for a comprehensive investigation into this neighborhood. I always feel like I’ve actually just visited a place when you post an article at “ForgottenNew York”…such a valuable resource for tour guides and lovers of our NYC urban landscape.

totally enjoyed all trhe memories(pictures) I grew up at 909 beck street which was at the corner of beck-Tiffany & 163rd street-all the streete were H-O-M-E-WE ALL KNEW EVERYONE FROM ALL AROUND-LOVED THE LOEWS BLVD,SPOONER AND THE STAR THEATER.

yep…my Mom & I used to go to the STAR & LOEW’s (we pronounced it, “Lowies”) theaters to cool off in the summer & see horror movies. Boris Karloff in “Frankenstein” scared me so badly, Mom had to take me to the Lounge to settle down, LOL.

I grew up at 811 Kelly Street, Apartment #10. Went to P.S. 39, P.S. 52, and Grace Dodge Vocational High School. What a delight it is to see the neighborhood where I grew up. What a beautiful sight to see the P.A.L. again! Every photo brings back memories. Thank You for the memories!

I know your post is almost 4 years old, but I am taking a chance that you will see this. My mom grew up at 811 Kelly street, too. It was likely before your time (she’s 99 years old). I was wondering whether you might have some photos of the place that my mom might enjoy seeing. Her mom died when she was 10 years old (1928) and she was shifted around from place to place after that. Seeing the one, and probably only “home” she remembers would be a blast. Thanks.

I grew up around the corner from you…775 Southern Blvd Apt 6F….& East 156th st, Longwood Ave & Fox St. My sister Pat & I went to PS 62. We moved away around 1959. I was 11. Like you, good & bad…the bad was really bad.

PS-62 TEACHERS, 1950:: let’s see…my kindergarten teacher was Mrs. Woodworth, who labelled me as “doesn’t work or play well with others”, and it followed me as a label; cannot remember first grade, second grade was Mrs Gefter, had her again in fourth grade(very nice, smart & sweet- thank God for her), third grade was Mrs Beck, who hit me in the face with her keys, fifth grade was Mrs. MacLaughlin, the owl-faced woman…we mutually despised each other…my friend Thomas Martinez & I found some rocks to throw at her while she was waiting for her bus ..Sixth grade was the awful Mrs Scipione, who slapped me hard & called my father to school so he could slap me again. The Principal was Mr. Lowencrown… Then I went to PS 72…all boys school. There, Mr. Lowe, my printing shop teacher molested me. Glad to leave the Bronx.

I grew up at 1115 Intervale Ave. near 167th St. It was demolished in the 1970’s. The property was ingloriously converted into a junk yard which remained until last year, when it was replaced by a senior citizens’ complex, roughly the size of the building where I lived as a child. If I still lived in NY, I’d be eligible to return to my original address.

Brought back great memories. I attended PS 39 when it was a grammar school in the 1940’s & early 50’s. We were released for religious instruction on Tuesdays and went to St Athanasius.
When Prospect Hospital was in existence, I worked there 1977 – 1985. Slid down that group of rocks in St Mary’s Park on a piece of cardboard! I once lived at corner of 149th & St. Ann’s Ave. directly across from park. Bronx was great in the 40’s & 50’s. People who worked at Prospect Hosp. bought the brownstones and preserved the area. God Bless. Thank you!

I was born in Prospect Hospital in 1944. This is the first time I have ever seen the building. I Googled it and found out that it closed in ’85. I never lived in that part of the Bronx because my parents moved from the Mott Haven section shortly before I was born.

I ATTENDED PS39 ON LONGWOOD AVE. FROM KINDERGARTEN IN 1932 THRU 6TH GRADE. THEN WENT TO PS52 FOR JUNION HIGH SCOOL. WE LIVED ON 790 DAWSON STREET CORNER LONGWOOD AVE., 1 BLOCK FROM THE SCHOOL.
The Romanesque, onion domed United Church on Hewitt Place is impressive indeed when viewed from Macy Place. This was originally a synagogue completed in 1906–despite the onion domes, which are generally found on Russian or Eastern European churches. THE NAME OF THE SYNAGOGUE WAS MONTIFIORE CONGREGATION. RABBI KATZ WAS IN CHARGE. I WENT TO HEBREW SCHOOL THERE FROM 1933 TO WAS BAR MITZVAH THERE IN 1940. IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL SYNAGOGUE.

Robin, what years did u live there,,,,I grew up at 950 Hewitt, until the year 1971..I went to ps 130, across the strret, then 52 when it was all boys, my last year the girls entered then onto Morris High…..

I lived on Fox st.,My wife onLongwood ave. I worked for Fr, G
when he opened up the the play street on Simpson st. Great days. Played in front of the rectory, When Msgr. O’Brien was the pastor. Wonderfule times going up in the neighborhood. Also workrd at Casita Maria. Nice past. Anyone from the past can e-mail me.

My old stomping grounds from 1957 PS 130, JHS 52, Morris High School, Manhattan Community College and US Army. We lived at 853 Macy Place for many years until my dad bought 779 Prospect Avenue. So many memories of friends and acquaintances some alive some dead.
No cell phones or computers. Played football, softball, basketball and stick ball. I have great memories of a well lived childhood surrounded by great people.

I started Elementary school at P.S. 39, my first grade teacher was Miss Abbott, that was probably 1951, I went there from 1st to 3rd grade. Amazes me I still remember my first grade teacher, she was wonderful guess I’ll never forget her!! We had wonderful times in that neighborhood, lived at 832 Dawson St. Love those memories, ironically the park on Dawson has a building there, maybe an office and a bathroom and the address is 832!! Wow. I remember when the public park on the right side first opened, great memories that live on in my heart. Moved to Queens after 3rd grade.

Wonderful photos, much, much better than google earth views. I was born in Prospect hospital in 1938. I lived at 777 Fox street, between Longwood and 156th st. In my days, we would go to the White mansion,after school, which was then called Juvenile House. It also had a summer day camp that I attended several times. The place eventually became a PAL. The top floor had a large area with a stage and dressing rooms behind it. The stage had a boxing ring where we would box and a basketball court.There were all kinds of after school activities that was provided.I went to PS 62, JHS 52 and Morris HS. Spent many, many hours, after school, bowling at Harry’s bowling ally.

I remember that PAL…great times there. PS 52, not so much. PS 52 was on Kelly St, right? I think I mistakenly posted PS 72 above somewhere; I think it was PS 52…all boys school on Kelly Street. I was born 1946 in Prospect Hosp., lived at 775 Southern Blvd., Apt 6F. I even remember our first phone #… DAyton 3-7308…. on the big, black, clunky rotary phone.

I together with my family lived at 1015 Longwood Avenue. I went to PS 39 and the to Thomas Knowlton Jr HS and from the went to Gomper HS on So. Blvd. and Prospect Ave. I didn’t graduate from Gompers because I went to the HS of Performing Arts on 47th Street in Manhattan. We paid $30 rent (1938 to 1949) it was rent controlled. My parents moved to Connecticut in 1950. These photos bring back such wonderful memories of my childhood living in the Bronx.

I use to spend time at my grandmothers house at 820 Dawson street that was demolished and replaced with a park. Always wondered why they didnt name PS 39 after Colin Powell being that he was from Kelley Street and attended PS 39.

I spent many great years in the forties with a group of friends withwhom I am still in touch….attended ps62 and ps 60 (then all girls)……Adele Lovesky, you lived on fox opposite ps 62….if you happen to come across this site email a message here ….I can remember ps62 classmates( almost every one in my6th grade class)….bertha binik. Patrick Marrinan….Ralph small, Saul steinberg marilyn Keller…..too many ….does anyone know why 947 ave St. John is still standing when the rest of the block of Dickerson buildings was razed? That was my home….. oh,another name from the area …..Joseph bonfiglio….

I grew up in Hunts Point and went to PS 48 with the Moshman brothers. All my birthday cakes came from Moshmans, and I fondly remember the “Delight Bar”. Does anyone have the recipe – I would love to make it for my family.

Does anyone remember Charles Fusco Jr. or Marie Keating from Morris HS?????? Charles was born in 1940 but tragically died at 21 years old falling off a roof…. his GF Marie(?) Keating had a child by Charles in 1960 and she also had another child a year or two later…. One of Marie’s daughters is looking for her (both were given up for adoption…..

Great photos. I lived on East 165th Street between Whitlock and Longfellow.
Like everyone else I went to the movies on Southern Blvd. The third theater was The Star. As I recall it was the least expensive of the three and had lots of B movies.
Does anyone remember the custard and ice cream place at Westchester and Southern Blvd right next to the El? Fond memories of their pistachio frozen custard.

I lived at 837 Beck Street from 1956-1963. I am wondering if there is an archived listing of the teachers, from the early 60’s. I cannot remember my 1st grade teacher’s name. I was in Class 1-10. I do remember my 2nd grade teacher’s name in Class 2-5: Mrs. Orr. I was in Class 3-1 for 3rd grade but I cannot remember that teacher’s name either. Any help would be appreciated!

Hi. I just read your message. I lived at 890 Beck St. from about 1952-58. I attended PS 39, k-5. Probably 1952-58. I remember my K teacher, Ms Kordower(spelling?). She was a young woman. I distinctly remember that she took us on a walk to local supermarket and we had a tour. amazing. My maiden name was Fleisher.

I lived at 1086 Southern Boulevard during the mid to late 70’s
Went to ps 150 until 4th grade then moved to Ohio. Big difference.
My best friend during that time was Carlos Martinez. My girlfriends name was Sonia. Don’t remember her last name. The day before we moved to Ohio we made-out under the stairs kissing for hours…lol we were just about 9 0r 10 years old. I believe she had 2 sisters and a brother. I remember that they called the younger sister “Bozo the Clown” because her hair was always messy. I wish i can meet them again. I havent been back to my old neighborhood in 38 years. Plan to make a trip soon.

I attended PS 38 from K-3, 1951-1953. My twin brother and I were born in 1946, at Beth Davids (closed in the early 50’s), in Manhattan. After our father’s death, in 1953, we moved from 653 Cauldwell ave. to 620 Trinity ave., necessitating a change of schools to PS 27. I don’t remember very much about PS 38. (my 1st grade teacher was Mrs. Graham). But I was impressed with the architecture of PS 27, even being as young as I was back then. 4th grade teachers, Mrs. Lewis and the Mrs. friedman.
Had to walk past that photographed outcropping on the149th St. side of St. Mary’s Park, on a daily basis on my way to and from school. I remember climbing up to the top with sand in my pockets, sand which we then sent down the slope so that we could use a strip of cardboard to slide down the slope. The slope was steeper than it appears to be in the photo. If you look closely at the photo, you’ll note that the slope is rather flat and shiny.And there was a solid two railed fence at the bottom, back then. I got very acquainted with that fence only once. Quickly learned to dig my shoes into the ground at the base of the slope, to avoid breaking my neck(or worse!)
I remember the two years it took (1956-58) when the other larger outcroppings, north of 149th St. and Westchester Ave, between Trinity Ave and Cauldwell Ave., were dynamited away to allow the St. Mary’s projects to be built. My brother and I used to climb up onto the southen out cropping, while the condemned old restaurant was still up there. The locals used to call it “cow’s ass” . My guess is that it was called that because from the street level looking up, that’s all that could be seen of the cows that used to be up there. I remember the horses that used to be stalled in old building on the southwest corner of Westchester and Cauldwell ave. Where the Safeway was built in 1957. The horses were used to pull the wagons used to sell vegetables and fruit. There were chickens there too. Remember the smells- odd for the Bronx. Remember the hospital on top of “The rocks” (the outcropping north of Westchester ave.). Was it called, Morrisannia Hospital?(just north of Jackson Ave. station).
I used to rent a bicycle, every now and then, from a bike rental near 149th St. and Southern Blvd.

I’ve been rambling on, sorry. Basically, glad that I was born there, learned alot about hard knocks. But, I was fortunate enough to leave there ( in 1960) and never wanted to go back. Great schools and teachers, especially if you were chosen to be in the best classes. Thank you, God!

Bronx attorney, now retired from the practice of law, Peter Rivera was in my elementary school, and later PS 149 Elijah D. Clark Junior High School classes. I understand that he is, or has been active in local government. He was one of my best friends. I also must praise Mr. Robert Blackman, my science teacher for at least two years at PS 149. A true inspiration!
Also, on a lighter note. I wish to thank The Seven Santini Brothers, Moving and Storage Company (Jackson Ave and Pontiac Place).for allowing us kids to use there building’s front wall and architecture for everything that a “Spaulding” ball (“Spauldeen” ) could be used for. Fun!

I grew up in Hunts Point and went to PS 48 with the Moshman brothers. All my birthday cakes came from Moshmans, and I fondly remember the “Delight Bar”. Does anyone have the recipe – I would love to make it for my family.